2090 – 14 – Understanding Hardenability

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Some metals don’t handle heat treatment as well as others. The measurement of a metal’s ability to be hardened by heat treatment is called hardenability. The better the hardenability of steel, the easier it hardens below its surface without requiring drastic cooling.
Hardenability is not the same as hardness, which is mostly attributed to carbon content. The higher the percentage of carbon, the more hardness a metal has. The more hardness steel has, the more difficult it is to get through its surface. Hardenability, though, represents how easy it is to get maximum hardness of a metal. The better the hardenability of the steel, the less likely it needs to be cooled as quickly.
Alloying can produce steel with greater hardenability. Some ofthe most common alloying choices are manganese, chromium, and molybdenum.